LETTER TO LT. GENERAL JOHN K. GERHART FROM MARSHALL S. CARTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R003000180021-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 29, 2004
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: July 12, 1962
• Content Type: LETTER

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2.32 1. 7'
V
General John K. Gerhart /
Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Programs
United -sates Air Force
Thank you for your letter of l4 June 1962. 1 am aware
of the excellent organization you, are assembling at the Special
3iir Warfare Center. As you :crow, I was present at the Fire
Power fexnonstration display for President Kennedy on 4 May
and was impressed by the quality of personnel and equipment
displayed at that time. I assure you that I will do everything
possible to insure close cooperation between this Agency and
the special Air Warfare Center.
As you indicate, CIA has had experience in the deploy-
ment of personnel and supplies in counter-insurgency operations.
In gaining this expeeriencee, the Agency has been greatly indebted
to the officers and enlisted rr,en wham the Air force has so gener-
ousAy detailed to us. I Wright mention two such officers who made
great contributions to our efforts in this field. One is
25X1 who commanded Agency air assets in support
25X1 of I believe no is now working in your
office under Cot. John Van Din.
who was our Senior Air Officer in the Far Fast was released by
the Agency last week for assignment to the Special Air "Warfare
25X1 :eenteer. F- I has spent r ost of the last 10 years.
assigned to Agency Air Operations, and probably ;;snows more
aoout Agency.tir Operations, techniques and equipment than any
other individual.
In contrast to the number of Air Force personnel who have
been assigned to Agency air operations, our civilian personnel
USAF review(s) completed.
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25X1
25X1
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assigned to the same duty have been few. largely because officers
of the Air Force are more W:aroftetent and current in new develop-
(rrents and procedurgs The individual you mentioned in your letter,
I =j In the r y civilian who has experience
corapara le to
are n-ost reluctant t Lose
F
envy air operations.
o soon after the departure
e believe that you will find I I un to date 25X1
,in me techniques and equipment employed in our present air opera-
tions. In connection with future developments, the best we can do
at our present stage is to provide for the periodic consultation by
"ne of our officers with your officers at the Special Air `Warfare
tenter. I regret that our air operations officers are in such short
s uppl.y that we are unable to furnish you a full-time liaison officer
and trust that you will find xny alternative proposal a satisfactory
temporary answer to your requirement.
Faithfully yours,
Marshall S. Carter
Lt. General, USA
Deputy Director
25X1
Signature Recommended:
J
Richard Helms (date)
Deputy Director (Plans)
25X1 DDP/
25X1
OC/OPSER
(date)
Distribution:
Orig. & L Addressye 1 - C/OPSER
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2- DD/T?
l2Jut62)
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12 July 1962
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Air Force Request for Assignment of
CIA. Liaison Officer to Special Air Warfare
Center.
REFERENCE: Letter to DDCI from Lt. General John K.
Gerhart dated 14 June 1962.
1. Attached for your consideration is a suggested reply
to General Gerhart.
25X1
2. We have only^civilian air operations officers at
headquarters and to assign one of these to the Special Air Warfare
Center at Eglin would seriously impair the work of our Air Support
Component. We would like to meet General Gerhart's request but
the cold truth is that we are unable to do so except on the basis pro-
posed in the attached reply.
25X1
Richard- elms
Deputy Director (Plans)
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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
Lt. General Marshall S. Carter
Deputy Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Dear Pat
As you know, the U. S. Air Force activated a unit in the
spring of 1961 to provide a counterinsurgency capability
for deployment to trouble spots throughout the world.
We have recently enlarged the unit to the equivalent of
air division strength and renamed it the Special Air War-
fare Center.
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One of the responsibilities assigned to the Center is to
develop and test not only equipment but ideas and tech-
niques as well, which may prove useful in the counterin-
surgency field. In this connection, I have long been of
the opinion that the Agency has a wealth of experience
in this field that should be more actively exploited.
As a first step in this direction, I felt that a liaison
officer from the Agency should be established with the
Headquarters of the Special Air Warfare Center. Exchanges
of correspondence in January and May between my Director
of Plans, Major General Burchinal, and your Deputy Director
for Plans Office have produced negative results. The reply
to our May request regretted that[ J
could not be made available. qua i ica ions
are well known to some of my officers who work with the
Agency on a daily basis and we therefore requested his
assignment on a "name" basis. Perhaps that was our mis-
take.
25X1
25X1
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At any rate, I feel that the subject warrants your
personal attention and would appreciate your assistance
in this matter. For your information, General Sweeney,
Commander, Tactical Air Command, sent me an unsolicited
request for a liaison officer in the same position I
have described. It seems obvious to me that a great deal
of mutual benefit to the Agency and the USAF must in-
evitably accrue if we can arrange for closer coordinated
planning.
Sincerely
JOHNGERHART
Lt. 964eral, USAF
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 DDCI desires Agency reaction to this request and a
draft of a possible reply (Note General Gerhart's
indication in para 2 that previous correspondence
exchanges with DD/P "have produced negative
results. ")